Going Wild (The Wild Ones 2)

She stops walking, and I turn to see her gawking at me.

“I know, right? Crazy town stuff,” I grumble.

She shakes her head slowly as a bright, wondrous smile comes over her lips.

“Son of a bitch. I should have known,” she says randomly.

“Should have known what?” I ask, worried. Does she know why I’ve led her out here on this trail? We still have at least half a mile to go before the ambush.

Damn it!

I told them she’d never walk through the thick woods with me. Lilah Vincent is too suspicious.

She laughs. “I just realized something. Never mind.”

She loops her arm back through mine, smiling wickedly. That, admittedly, has me worried. My cousins would never hit her. So obviously she’d kick their asses if they can’t get the drop on her.

Unless she and I fought. We’ve fought before. It never works out so well for me.

In my defense, she’s always fighting with her hellion brothers. My cousins run from me, never letting me practice on them because they’re massive and worried I’ll hurt myself if I hit them too hard.

It’s really not fair. My size leaves everyone underestimating me all the time.

“I should introduce you to my neighbor. He’s been living here for over a month, but he’s mostly stuck to our corner,” she says with a secretive smile on her lips.

I wiggle my eyebrows. “The freakishly gorgeous neighbor?” I muse. “The one your aunt tried to set you up with, but you thought he was just too pretty?”

She nods, her smile growing ever so steadily.

“I heard he gets a lot of visitors to his cabin. Half the singles are taking him food daily. He’s probably gained fifty pounds,” I go on, laughing quietly to myself. “You can tell we don’t get too many new ones out here.”

“You’ve never heard his name?” she asks curiously.

I turn my head, looking at her with a raised brow. “Why would I care what his name is? If he was too pretty for you, then I doubt he’d be my type. I go for understated sexy, remember? Like me.”

I tug one of my springy curls, letting it bounce into place, then shake my very small ladies. Yes, I know I’m not a vixen like Lilah. Still doesn’t mean I don’t know how to work what I have.

“Right,” she drawls. “Guess it wouldn’t matter anyway. He moved all the way out here for some girl he barely knew.”

My eyebrows knit together.

“What?”

She toys with the ends of her hair, keeping her arm looped through mine.

“Says he sold his place in the city and moved out here because some girl got in his head. He came here to find her, even though he barely knew her or anything about her, as it turns out. He’s waiting for the right moment to let her know he stalked her all the way to Tomahawk.”

My lips purse. “I’m not sure if that’s creepy or romantic.”

“Can’t be one without running the risk of being the other,” she says matter-of-factly. “Perception is key.”

Before I can get more info, three bodies leap up from the bushes, throwing back their camouflage coverings, and they grapple Lilah even as she struggles and spews threats.

I might grin when Jason gets kicked really hard in the mouth by her combat boot.

“I’m so going to kick all your asses!” she shouts, then levels me with a glare. “Well played, Malone. Well played.”

I grin at her as they start tying her up, holding her down as they struggle with that task. Lilah is a hellcat when cornered, so she’s writhing and thrashing around, causing them to curse every time they almost get pegged with an elbow or foot.

“Oh, this isn’t my revenge, Lilah Vincent. This is my present,” I explain.

The confusion on her face is adorable, but it’s replaced with fury again when Jason starts manhandling her, tossing her over his shoulder and walking toward the lake.

“Someone let me on their back. These are my suedes, and I’m not stepping off the trail in them,” I call out.

Heath kneels, and I hop on his back. He carries me all the way to the boat, where Jason deposits Lilah carefully to the seat.

I turn the radio up to drown out her questions and threats as I drive us toward her aunt’s house. She finally gives up…

Until we dock and there’s no more music to tune her out with.

“What the hell are you doing?” Lilah demands as Jason lifts her out of the boat, her hands and feet tied together as we step onto Penny’s dock.

“I told you. This is my present.”

“Oh, Kylie Malone, don’t make me kick your petite little ass.”

I just grin.

“Your boots may suffer,” she adds viciously.

I turn a glare on her, and she smirks.

“Too far?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows as she gives me a taunting grin.

Jason puts her in front of him like she’s a shield, but I finally smile, knowing Lilah would never be stupid enough to touch my boots. After all, these are a pair of tan suedes. The blue in the flowers matches my blue dress. And my suedes are always my precious.